No Gifts
by KaelynnD
Summary: Seto and Mokuba agreed not to get each other anything on Valentine's Day.


Hey everyone! Happy Valentine's Day from myself, and the Kaiba Brothers! Just a short, plotless scene that I came up with yesterday, I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I am not trying to offend anyone with Seto's views of the holidays. I don't own Yugioh, or Hallmark.

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I walked through the aisles of the store, disgusted by the amount of red and pink that surrounded me. Holidays to me were simply an excuse for companies to trick people into spending money on things that they never would buy on any other occasion. And Valentine's Day was possibly the worst of them all.

At Christmas, people generally bought items that related to their recipients. The gifts at the winter holiday were somewhat practical in purpose. There were of course, some people who insisted upon giving ornaments or Christmas themed decorations, but for the most part, I was okay with Christmas.

Halloween serves as an excuse to dress up in the most ridiculous costume one could find, go to strangers' houses, and demand candy. I blame Halloween for masked robbers. What do people expect? We teach children that they can put on masks and demand for things that they didn't pay for, and then they are sent to prison for doing so on any other night of the year. And the cavities and tooth disease that come along with October 31 are more than enough to keep me away from that holiday.

Thanksgiving is the most sensible. Gathering together with family to show how truly thankful you are for everything you've been given make sense. It is something that the general population doesn't even think about the other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year, but definitely something that should be on everyone's minds daily. I celebrate Thanksgiving happily.

But Valentine's Day is dreadful.

What is the point of telling someone that you love them on only one day of the year? Why get all dressed up to take your special someone out just to create a standard that can't be met on any other day? People spend countless amounts of money on stuffed bears, jewelry, flowers, chocolates, and the like, but just because society tells them that is what they are supposed to be doing two weeks into February.

Mokuba and I had decided not to exchange gifts today. We had planned to spend the day together, nothing more. We did the same thing every year. Refusing to spend money on frivolous junk was our tradition. I even let him take off school for this particular day.

The only reason I was at the store was because Mokuba insisted that I at least get something for my secretary, since she had to put up with me daily. And because I knew how harsh I could get, I agreed. But I wasn't looking for anything romantic, just an "I appreciate you" themed card and some candy.

However, I was having great difficultly finding anything in the chaos that surrounded me. Normally, I would judge last minute shoppers who chose to buy their gifts hours before they were needed, but today, I was one. I had forgotten to pick up something yesterday, and I wanted to get this out of the way before I started my day with Mokuba. So I chose to leave the house before he even woke up to buy my secretary's gift, then get back to the house for my brother.

I placed a hand over my stomach as it started to growl, reminding me that I had skipped out on breakfast. Making a mental note to eat whenever I returned home, I continued shopping.

As I walked down the card aisle, I found myself amazed at the variety that were offered. Why would anyone need such a specific card? If I needed a card for my cousin's daughter who was six, I wouldn't spend time searching for "Six year old daughter of cousin," I would just find a card that said "Happy Valentine's Day." It just proved to me how the greeting card business was controlling the world.

After several minutes of searching for a card that didn't profess my love, I eventually discovered a blank-inside card that simply said, "You're Great!" on the cover. I personally wasn't one for an empty card, I mean, could the inventor of blank-inside cards be any lazier? Yet, I was ready to get home, and I could make the card very simple.

I had already picked up a square shaped box of assorted chocolates, so I moved to the register. I received an odd stare from the lady behind the counter as she noted my basic purchases. She didn't seem like the type who would appreciate such things. This woman had decked herself out in holiday spirit. From her heart shaped earring to her long red fingernails, this woman screamed, "I'm advertizing for Hallmark!"

She bagged my items as I scanned my card, and I couldn't help but notice that she didn't offer any type of small talk as these workers normally did. Not that I cared, but she just looked like the sort to bombard a person with holiday sentiments.

I left the store quickly. I hadn't even been out for an hour, but I was ready to be back at the house. It was going to be a fun day with Mokuba, as long as there were no work calls or emergencies that would keep me from spending time with him.

My car stood out from the others in the parking lot. When purchasing it, I had actually tried not to buy the most elaborate and flashy car in the market, but I wanted something nice too. After all, I just had the one car, and I needed my coworkers to take me seriously. A Koenigsegg CCX, a shade lighter than charcoal, while still being dark, and completed with Mokuba-proof seats. I love the kid, but he certainly makes a habit of spilling things in the car.

Walking to the car drew the gazes of the people around me. I wasn't sure if they recognized me or were just coveting the car, but either way, I was out of the parking lot in seconds.

Once on the road, I pulled out my aviator style sunglasses and put them on, then rolled down my windows. It felt great outside, even if it was a bit chilly, and I wanted to enjoy the weather while I could. Being trapped at school, then at work really made me appreciate being outside. I made a second mental note to start walking to school.

I kept my radio off, since all the seemed to be on was the greatest love songs of the last decade. I didn't often listen to music, but when I did, I was picky about my genre.

When my house came into view, I started to roll the windows up. I opened up the gates with the click of a button and slowly pulled forward into my driveway. Once I was completely inside, I pressed the button again to close the gates behind me.

I rolled into the garage instead of leaving the car in the driveway. About two years ago I had tried to leave my car out, and a couple of kids tried to steal it. That taught me my lesson, and now my car stayed in the garage where it was safely out of sight.

I grabbed my bag as I exited the car and made my way into the house. As I took off my sunglasses, I noted an odd smell coming from the kitchen.

Of course, I began to investigate the source of the smell. When I found the source, it only confirmed my suspicion. Mokuba was standing in front of the stove, flipping a pancake. He had his hair tied back and his face was covered in flour. The concentration on his face as he carefully slid the spatula underneath the pancake had me chuckling.

"Seto! You're back already? I was hoping to be done with this before then," he said, but didn't turn to face me as he completed his task.

"I just had to grab a card and some candy. How long did you think it would take?" I asked, laying the bag with said items on the table in the middle of the room. I then noticed that he had set up the table for breakfast. There were bowls of cut up fruits, bowls of cereal, toast; he had clearly found every breakfast food in the house and set them out.

"So what is all this?" I asked as I took a seat at the table. I poured myself a glass of orange juice while I waited for his answer.

"Well, I just wanted to give you something for Valentine's Day. And since it is a ridiculous holiday that is just made to cheat people out of their money on stupid items, I didn't want to buy you anything. Thus, breakfast," Mokuba answered, finally finishing with the pancakes. He stacked them up on a plate and placed them in the center of the table.

"Besides, I knew that you would have skipped it anyways."

My stomach growling confirmed his statement.

"But don't we normally cook lunch and dinner together?" I asked.

Mokuba shrugged and grabbed a rag to clean the flour off his face. "After last year, I just wanted to make sure we got something done today," he admitted.

I remembered last year clearly. We had just started our video game competition when I received a call from work. It had been some huge deletion of files that no one seemed to know how to recover, so I had to leave. Mokuba had said that he understood, but I knew that he wasn't thrilled that I left.

Then the idea came to me. I stood up and walked over to Mokuba, pausing quickly to take a sip of orange juice, hoping that would take the edge off my stomach pains.

"I got you something too, Kiddo. Well, nothing that I bought," I said.

I could see the curiosity appear on his face. He bit down on his lip, trying to decide what I, a severe hater of the holiday, would get him.

"So what is it?" he asked.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my keys and handed them to him. He took them from me and stared at them as his expression changed from curiosity to confusion.

"You are giving me your car, the house, and KaibaCorp? That's sweet Seto, but I don't think that I can accept such a horrible gift. No, I take that back. I'll take the car."

I laughed. "No Mokuba, those are just yours for the day. Along with this."

I put my hand into my jacket pocket and pulled out my cellphone. I made a large show of turning it off before handing it to him. Then, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a second cellphone.

"Your cellphone and your back up cellphone?" he asked, obviously shocked. I never went anywhere without my normal cellphone. The back up had basically become a permanent fixture on my body. Neither left my possession.

"That's right, Mokie. They are yours for the day to do with as you will. Hide them if you wish, because I can't go anywhere without them," I explained.

He smiled at that idea.

"Thanks Seto. We can eat first, then I will hide them, because I definitely know that you are going to regret that come one o'clock. But try the pancakes. I made them by myself, with my own recipe!" he exclaimed, then took a seat at the table.

I walked back to my seat, feeling very off balanced without my phones. But I did as he asked, and I put a pancake on my plate.

I took a bite and immediately realized that he was telling the truth. These were indeed his own recipe.

"You added a cup of sugar to the mix didn't you?" I asked, trying not to spit the small bite I had taken out of my mouth.

"Yup! We are going to need the energy if we are going to be competing in crazy racing games all day. Besides, you know how I love sugar," he answered, happily finishing off his first pancake and reaching for a second.

As I looked at my brother, I could see that he was really happy. And not just with the sugar, but at the idea of having the whole day with no distractions. We hadn't done anything like this since we moved into the mansion. It was something that I immediately regretting not doing enough.

Mokuba stopped eating and looked up at me staring at him.

"Seto? What are you looking at? I know that I still have flour on my face."

"It's not that. I just love you, Kiddo."

"I love you too, Seto," Mokuba answered. He rolled his eyes and went back to his plate. But just before the fork reached his mouth, he said, "but this is still a stupid holiday."

"Oh, agreed."

And we went back to breakfast.

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Let me know what you think!


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